Japan Journals

Not How I Intended to
Arrive in Japan

A Bit of Time in Tokyo

Monkey-ing Around Near
Nagano

Osaka

The 'Deer' City of Nara

Miyajima and Hiroshima

Himeji

Kobe - A City With More
Than Just Beef

Returning to Kyoto

And On The Seventh Day,
There Was Rest
-----------------------------------
Photo Albums
Tokyo and Nagano

Osaka

Nara

Hiroshima and Miyajima

Himeji, Kobe and Kyoto
Links relating to
my trip
Accommodations:

Dave and Masayo's in Tokyo

Hotel Raizan South (Osaka)


Other Sites:

Yudanaka Snow Monkey Park
(near Nagano)

Arashiyama Monkey Park (in
Kyoto)

Nature Spa (in Takarazuka)

Mitsukoshi - A department store
with an amazing food hall.

Japan Rail Pass - Don't leave
home without one of these if you
plan on traveling for around a week!

Home | The Travel Bug | Resources | More About Me

My Japanese Experience...

Highs: Seeing Dave and Masayo; the snow monkeys in Yudanaka (near Nagano); Nara; the food;
toilets and bathrooms; experiencing snow; Kobe (especially the Kitano area); the Himeji Castle
covered with snow; the many toriis of the Fushimi Inari Shrine; the bamboo forest in Kyoto; the
Monkey Park in Kyoto.

Lows: Only having 10 days out here; not being equipped with the correct clothing.

Best Moment: I can't place a 'best' moment. Every day I came back feeling so pumped about what
I had seen that day.

Craziest Moment: Having a Japanese clown mime directions for me in the Arashiyama area of
Kyoto.

Smells: The incredible aromas of food; incense.

Sounds: The noises at the crosswalks; the sounds radiating from stores out onto the streets;
monkeys playing/fighting/making monkey love.

Sights: Video games being played on the streets; Japanese porn shops; electronic megastores;
Buddhist temples; pagodas; Todaji Temple; Kofukuji Temple; deer in Nara; Peace Museum and
Memorial (Hiroshima); floating torii in Miyajima; Himeji Castle; Kitano in Kobe; Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
in Kobe; Arashiyama Monkey Park (Kyoto); Ginkakuji Temple (Kyoto); Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
(Kyoto).

Tastes: Bento boxes; sushi; marinated root veggies; seaweed salad with soybeans and tofu;
Japanese cookies; octopus balls; rice balls wrapped in moutain potato dough;
okonomiyaki (referred
to as 'Japanese pizza'); momiji manju' - maple leaf-shaped cakes with a variety of fillings; oysters (on
Miwajima Island); 'rice cake' skewers with an assortment of flavors that looked more like a skewer of
steak pieces (in Kyoto).

Purchases: Different beautifully-wrapped packages of cookies; Hello Kitty tins of mints; a purse.

Street Food: Octopus balls; rice balls wrapped in mountain potato dough; roasted sweet potatoes.

Fun Food Finds: Grape and apple flavored Kit Kats (the flavoring is within the wafers - I can't
really bring myself to try these); green tea flavored Kit Kats; Hershey kisses filled with cheesecake
flavoring (unless these are new at home now).

Western Companies Out Here: Starbuck's, McDonald's, The Sports Authority; Denny's;
Coco's; KFC; Seattle's Best Coffee; Wendy's; Tully's Coffee.



Other General Info...


Visa needed? Not for Americans.

Type of currency? The yen. $1 USD is equal to a bit more than 100 yen.

Things Japan Is Known For: Sushi and tuna; temples; zen gardens; torii; World War II.

Religion: Buddhism.

Costs: One-week rail pass was roughly $300 US.
Japan...
February 19-29, 2008
In Nara.
Oh-so-wonderful Japanese street food.
A snow monkey near Nagano.